On Facebook, It Feels Better to Receive Than to Give

Photo courtesy of Facebook

The traditional media landscape is one based on passivity. We lean back into our cushy sofas to watch TV, we half-listen to the radio while staring at tail lights in traffic. We consume because we’re constantly being fed content from a handful of content producers. And we are satisfied with our continuous consumption.

As it turns out, the way we consume in our online social world isn’t much different than the real one.

The average Facebook user, for instance, isn’t putting as much out into his or her network of friends than they are receiving from it, according to a recent study. Most of the ‘stuff’ of Facebook — likes, friend requests, and link sharing — isn’t done by the many, but by the few: no more than 20 to 30 percent of Facebook users are doing the majority of the sharing.

The study, conducted by the Pew Research Center, suggests that as a result of these so-called “power users,” the majority of Facebook users ‘get’ data more than they contribute. In other words, on Facebook we feel it’s better to receive than to give.

At first blush, the study’s implications aren’t massive. We’re ‘liked’ by others around 20 times per month, while we only dole out about 14 of our own ‘likes’ monthly to others, the study says. We’re more likely to be tagged in a photo by power users than do the tagging ourselves, and to receive friend requests than to attempt befriending.

But consider this: User engagement, according to Pew, only increases over the length of time since they’ve joined Facebook. And that number only goes up with the number of friends a user has. So even if we’re passively taking in info more than we’re putting it out, we’re still amping up our interaction with the platform over time.

Interaction is definitely what Facebook wants. In the S-1 prospectus Facebook filed on Wednesday, the company makes clear that one of its biggest risks to profitability over time is a decrease in user engagement. Even if only directed by a few so-called ‘power users,’ it’s still drumming up precious click-throughs to more Facebook pages.

And more pages, of course, means more display ads. Advertisers love our consumption. And to the tune of $3.7 billion in revenues, Facebook certainly loves advertisers.

Now more than ever, it is Facebook’s challenge to continue to push that attitude of consumption, of ‘getting,’ to keep momentum. Facebook not only must answer to its customers’ satisfaction, but to that of its many shareholders to come.